NASA Concentrates On Next Generation Of Structural Solid State Batteries

Battery backup is the most vital thing for any space craft's in a lone sky because there is no easy way to avail any power source in case of failure until a next expensive and time-consuming space mission will conduct.

Every spacecraft have extra power backup but until now NASA used the battery as a backup which is too much bulky in size, space that can overweight any spacecraft and increase the cost and time for every space shuttle mission.

Now NASA is keenly interested in working on a solid state battery that has very small in size but without compromising on ability. Dr. Luke Roberson, a senior principal investigator for Flight Research at NASA's Kennedy Space Center collaborated with Dr. Ryan Karkkainen; a composite material expert at the University of Miami conducted an experiment on reducing battery structure.

Now they already made a small prototype of size 2-3 millimeters that is a prime candidate for use in microsatellites, including "CubeSats". Daniel Perez, a Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering from the University of Miami supporting this project to learn how to reduce the structural pieces for the battery prototype.

Perez explained the process as they produce several layers of the small carbon fiber squares on top of each other in a vacuum bag then attached a vacuum hose to the bag to draw out all the air from the carbon fiber and compress all the fibers together, this whole process called "Debulking". After an hour, the squares were carefully uncovered and moved to a 250-degree oven where the resin epoxy in the carbon fiber was cured. After that these layers use to reduce battery structure.

Roberson thinks that this new type of battery transfers to other applications: This technology could be used on satellite structural trusses, the International Space Station, or to power habitat structures established on another planet, said Roberson. Commercial applications could include automobile frames or tabletop battery rechargers.